The Prime Minister is set to warn the nation “things will get worse” in a address delivered from Downing Street today.

The doom and gloom speech is expected to lay blame at the door of the previous Conservative government who were in power for 14 years, which senior Tory figures claim is a way to open the door for Labour tax hikes.

Sir Keir Starmer’s speech marks a distinct contrast to the mantra of the last Labour administraion under Sir Tony Blair, who claimed “things could only get better”.

But Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves said Sir Keir Starmer wanted to fix a “black hole in the country’s finances”, as well as a “societal black hole”. She told LBC radio, she said: “Under the previous government, we saw the sticking plaster politics papering over the cracks, hoping that something would come up, whereas Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, wants to fix the foundations of the country so that people’s lives can be better.”

But Conservative chairman Richard Fuller said: “This is nothing but a performative speech to distract the public from the promises Starmer made that he never had any intention of keeping. In fewer than 100 days the Labour Party has dumped its ambition of public service and become engulfed in sleaze, handed out bumper payouts to its union paymasters with ‘no strings’ attached and laid the groundwork to harm pensioners and tax working people.”

Follow this LIVE blog for more updates throughout the day on the PM’s first major speech…